


Silence is Golden

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: 1000-5000 Words, Challenge Response, Disability, Fall Fandom Free For All, M/M, Mission Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-28
Updated: 2008-12-08
Packaged: 2017-10-08 18:12:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/78180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Made for Gretazreta for the <i>Fall Fandom Free-For-All with the prompt "John loses the ability to speak: nobody notices. (John/Rodney or gen!)".</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I of II

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gretazreta (Greta)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greta/gifts).



"So, how did it go?" Elizabeth asked as her lead team returned through the gate.

John glared at her through soaking wet bangs, and it took Elizabeth a moment to realize that it wasn't just his bangs that were wet. The Colonel was drenched from head to toe in a slightly sparkly liquid, despite the fact that the rest of his team seemed remarkably dry.

"Don't mind him," Rodney said, pushing past John and into Elizabeth's line of sight. "He's just upset because he got alien goo dumped on him and now he has to go explain to Carson what happened." The scientist sounded far too cheerful for Elizabeth's comfort.

"What did happen?" she asked cautiously.

Rodney opened his mouth to reply, but before he could comment, John smacked him in the back of the head. Rodney spun around, clearly about to unleash a diatribe of epic proportions, but John had stalked off and was already halfway to the corridor, leaving the rest of his team behind.

"Alright, we'll debrief as soon as Carson has seen you all," Elizabeth decided. She saw the start of a protest on Rodney's face and raised her hand warningly. "All of you, Rodney."

"Fine," the scientist huffed before turning and leaving the gateroom.

Elizabeth glanced at the other two and received a shrug from Ronon and a sympathetic smile from Teyla. Returning the smile, Elizabeth returned to her office. She was fairly certain that this debriefing was going to be a mess, and she wanted to get as much paperwork as possible done while she had the chance.

)(o)(

Elizabeth was almost finished with her paperwork when she got the call from Carson. With a sigh, she shoved the last few folders into her desk and made her way to the conference room.

Teyla was already sitting in her chair, looking serene as usual, while Ronon slouched against a wall. A few moments later, Carson walked in with an armful of papers and a frazzled expression. He was followed by John, who looked slightly dryer, but no less surly. Before Elizabeth could enquire about his attitude, Rodney rushed in, his bag in one hand and his laptop in the other.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry. Some big emergency in the Chemistry department that needed me of all people to fix it," he explained quickly, setting up his things the way he liked them. "I've been saying since we got here that Kavanaugh has no clue what he's doing."

"I'd like to know what happened, of course," Elizabeth began, even as the doors started to close, "but first I would like to talk about your mission."

"It was boring," Ronon immediately replied.

"The planet was uninhabited," Teyla confirmed, "and there were no dangers in the vicinity of the ruins. I believe that Dr. McKay gathered quite a lot of information from the structures."

"Boring." Ronon grumbled again, and Elizabeth had to hide a smile.

"Rodney?" she asked.

"Well they were a fairly primitive society, at any rate," Rodney began, typing away on his laptop. "They attributed most of the events in their life to magic, as far as I can tell. Something about magic crystals that made the water flow and the crops grow and everyone was nice and loved each other. It's a bunch of mystical nonsense."

"So there were no indications of why the Ancients would have praised them so highly?" Elizabeth asked, pulling up the page on her laptop. "There was no mention of their amazing justice system or of their ability to grant wishes?"

"Uh, nope. If you ask me, either the Ancient who wrote that article was delusional, or we've got the wrong people. No way these crystal-worshipers are capable of granting wishes."

"Besides, is such a thing even possible?" Teyla asked softly.

"Oh, sure," Rodney's voice was rich with sarcasm, "Barbara Eden did it all the time."

"Oh, but Samantha was so much prettier." Carson objected.

"Please, Barbara was way hotter than Samantha! I mean, have you ever looked at what she wears?"

Seeing the confused looks on Teyla's and Ronon's faces, and the deepening scowl on John's, Elizabeth decided to bring the conversation back into focus. "So, how did the Colonel become wet?"

Rodney immediately replied, "Well, I was tired of being interrupted by idiotic questions, so I sent Colonel Sheppard away, so that I could get some work done. The next thing I know, there's the sound of stone shifting. I thought he was going to bring the whole place down on our heads!"

"It appears that John found a place where the crystal people stored water, and accidentally activated it." Teyla broke in smoothly.

"Like a shower," Rodney muttered.

Elizabeth noticed the fury growing on John's face and quickly interrupted. "Carson? What did you find?"

"Well, the water seems to have some kind of mineral mixed in with it - possibly as a result of the location from which they collected it. I haven't gotten the analysis on it done, but it doesn't appear that the water did anything untoward to Colonel Sheppard."

"Alright then, You are all free to continue with your business, but keep in mind that you won't be going offworld until Carson finishes his investigation. John, you'll need to stay in contact with him - I want you to report _any_ changes." Elizabeth expected John to make an angry or sarcastic comment, but was pleasantly surprised when he refrained. Perhaps he was finally taking her words seriously. "Dismissed."

Rodney quickly shoved his things back into his bag and scuttled off, while Teyla and Ronon left at a more leisurely pace. Carson glanced at John warily before gathering up his own papers, but the pilot was sitting with his head down, clearly deep in thought. Elizabeth decided not to bother him and quietly gathered up her own papers, following Carson out of the conference room.

)(o)(

When the meeting ended, John remained in his seat, thinking about their last mission. They had left for M72-8R3 just after breakfast, in search of a people they had discovered in the Ancient database. They found the ruins of a large village just an hour from the gate, but there were no signs of intelligent life on the planet.

Deciding that it was probably the safest planet they had found yet, John had posted Ronon and Teyla around the perimeter and had stayed inside the largest building, where Rodney was working. Just to guard him, of course. It had nothing to do with watching his butt when he bent over to look at a low carving. Nothing at all.

_John leaned against a sturdy rock wall, ignoring the markings carved on it. He had been having fun teasing Rodney, but at the scientist's last threat - to withhold sex for a week - he decided to back off._

Unfortunately it was too late, and Rodney had already gotten into a ranting groove. "And, if the idiotic comments you make aren't enough, you have to make them in that ridiculous tone of voice!" he complained.

"What tone of voice?" John asked innocently, knowing full well what his lover meant.

"That! That one right there! Your 'I'm-so-innocent-and-sexy-with-my-messy-hair-what-could-I-possibly-do-wrong?' voice! God! Sometimes I wish you'd just SHUT UP!" Rodney struck out at the wall blindly, hitting it with his fist.

John was about to comment that Rodney had to be careful or John would let him_ explain to Carson why he had broken his hand again, but his mouth snapped shut when the walls creaked ominously._

"What? What?" Rodney looked around frantically, going from annoyed to panicked in the blink of an eye.

John had his sidearm in his hand in an instant, wishing that he hadn't put his P-90 with the other supplies when they deemed this planet 'safe.' Before he could comfort Rodney, John heard the stone walls creak again, and then he was drenched in freezing cold water.

The first sound he heard, once the shock receded a bit, was the sound of Rodney laughing. Not just snickering, but full on, falling over, dying of laughter. The next sound that registered with Ronon's deep chuckle, indicating that he and Teyla had heard the commotion and were now witnessing him looking like a drowned cat.

He opened his mouth to tell them all off, but to his shock, no sounds came out. He tried again and again, but he just couldn't get his voice to work.

"Oh, come on Sheppard," Rodney gasped out, "stop gaping like an idiot and let's go. You know Carson's going to want to hear about this."

The tone in his voice made John wonder if he was saying that Carson would like to cure him, or that Carson would like to laugh himself do death over the idea of his impromptu shower. Knowing the good doctor, he had a feeling that it was a bit of both.

Realizing that he was alone in the conference room, John got up and hurried towards his office. It didn't have much more than a desk and a computer in it, because he preferred to hustle through his work and then go do something fun, but today he lingered.

John had spent the entire walk back to the Stargate attempting to speak, but it was like his vocal chords had just snapped. There were just no sounds emerging from his throat. At first he thought that it was shock from the cold water - he was still shivering slightly - but as the walk progressed, he wasn't as sure.

And after an hour of being poked and prodded by Carson, John was warmer and drier, but still no closer to answers. His voice hadn't returned, but Carson had declared him healthy. The Doctor had assumed that he was quiet because he was grumpy about being wet, and had quickly stopped asking him questions, but he had somehow missed the physical aspect of whatever was causing his voice to disappear. John had no idea why he couldn't speak, and had been hoping that Carson would have an idea, but it seemed that he, like everyone else, hadn't noticed.

John wasn't sure how that was possible, either. It wasn't as if he talked as much as Rodney - he didn't think anyone could, actually - but he usually spoke up a bit more in debriefings and post-mission checkups. It was just unusual for him to go so long without saying anything, but perhaps they hadn't noticed because no one had been with him the whole time.

He would give it a little longer, and then he would start to get annoyed. In the meantime, he would get his report written for Elizabeth, emphasizing the whole 'unable to talk' part.

)(o)(

Rodney finally finished dealing with the crisis in the Chemistry department and had eventually gotten a chance to check in with his own department. Fortunately, Radek had kept the physicists crisis-free during his five-hour absence, and so he was able to lock himself in his office and bury himself in his work.

The computer was able to translate the parts of the wall carvings that were in ancient, but some of them were scientific calculations that he had to work out for himself. Or, rather, they were what these crystal-worshiping primitives called 'science' - in other words, voodoo and nonsense.

From what he could tell, they had created a system for heating water and cooking meals - mostly by channeling solar energy through crystals - but he'd yet to read about anything really useful.

The small alarm clock that John had gotten him went off at 10 PM as usual, and for once Rodney was grateful to abandon his work. He quickly tidied up his desk and then left. Figuring that John would be in his own room, Rodney headed in that direction. They had had an early mission this morning, and so John had insisted that they spend the night before it in their own rooms. He always said it - it was one of the conditions of their arrangement - but last night, for some reason, Rodney had had a much harder time falling asleep than usual. It wasn't even the sex that he missed, but just the simple feeling of a second warm body in the bed with you.

Rodney arrived at the door to John's room and knocked politely, in case Elizabeth or someone else was with Sheppard. There was no response, so he knocked harder. And harder. And finally he kicked the door, appreciating the loud thunk sound his boot made.

When John still didn't answer, Rodney decided to let himself in, thinking it would make a nice surprise. However, swiping his hand over the door crystals didn't work, and neither did rearranging them. It was almost as though John had talked Atlantis into locking his door in such a way that even a brilliant scientist couldn't get through his defenses.

Exasperated, Rodney ran his hands through his hair, only then feeling his earpiece. Feeling slightly foolish for forgetting that he was wearing it, Rodney tapped the speaker. "Sheppard? Sheppard come in." He paused for a moment, but there was no response, so he tried again. "Sheppard? Colonel Sheppard! I know it's _after ten_, but I need to talk to you."

There was still no answer, and now Rodney was beginning to get annoyed. He knew John was upset about his teasing from earlier, but that was no reason to ignore him. "Sheppard? Stop sulking about your impromptu shower and answer me, damnit!"

His words were a little harsh, but the odds of someone listening in on their private conversation at this time of night were minimal, and he had stopped working on time, just to be with John. Surely that counted for something.

Well apparently it didn't, since his earpiece was still silent.

"Fine. You know what, I don't need this. I'll talk to you in the morning. Maybe." Rodney snapped off his radio with a huff and stalked back to his room. He'd be just fine sleeping alone tonight, but he hoped that J- _Sheppard_ would spend the whole time tossing and turning.

)(o)(

John wasn't sure how long he had been sitting on the secluded deck, but it was long enough to watch the sun go down and then count the stars as they came out. He had gotten up to 374 before he completely lost count - a personal best.

He'd spent most of the time thinking, about his day and about how much he took for granted, mostly. It was odd to think about losing something so common, like his voice. He didn't realize before now how much it meant to him to be able to speak up for himself, or even to just joke around with his team.

A few times earlier in the day he had already opened his mouth to speak before he realized that nothing would come out. He had only gotten one odd look for doing it, but Carson had shrugged to the new nurse not to say anything.

John had also thought about the military repercussions. Would they declare him disabled and send him home if he never got his voice back? And where was home now? Atlantis was the closest thing to a home he'd had in years, although he thought he'd take a chance at designing that perfect bachelor pad he'd had on the fog planet.

Although he wasn't really a bachelor anymore.

And that was another thing. He knew Rodney hadn't meant to make him mute; he couldn't even count the number of times his lover had told him to shut up. It was just unfortunate that this particular time one of them was touching a magical wish-granting wall that decided to drown him in silencing goo. John wasn't going to blame Rodney for the wall's actions, though he might have to smack him later if he didn't notice soon that John couldn't speak.

John was just beginning to get stiff from sitting for so long when his earpiece flared into life with a burst of static. "Sheppard? Sheppard come in."

John was so used to hearing Rodney's voice in his ear that, without thinking about it, he reached up, tapped his earpiece on, and replied, "Yes, Rodney?" Or rather, he tried to reply, and even managed to mouth the words, but no sound came out.

"Sheppard? Colonel Sheppard! I know it's _after ten_, but I need to talk to you."

John punched the railing in frustration. He had been out here thinking for so long that it had already passed ten, the time when he and Rodney usually met. He should have been watching the time a little more closely, especially after it got dark.

"Sheppard? Stop sulking about your impromptu shower and answer me, damnit!"

As he scrambled to his feet, John decided that he would let that comment slide - at least until he could personally blame Rodney for giving him the shower in the first place. John opened the door into the hall and paused for a second to place his position in the city. He was only six floors away from his room, which was likely where Rodney was, so if he hustled, he could probably catch him and figure out a way to-

"Fine. You know what, I don't need this. I'll talk to you in the morning. Maybe."

The static in his earpiece cut off, and the silence seemed even louder to John. He stepped back out of the light of the corridor, allowing the doors to shut, secluding him on the darkened deck once again.

Rodney was mad at him. Not an altogether uncommon occurrence, but this time he sounded more pissed off than usual. Like sleeping alone for a month pissed off. Which was really unfair, when he thought about it, because the only reason that he hadn't been able to respond to Rodney was because of Rodney's stupid wish.

And now that shower comment was really pissing him off too. If anything, Rodney should be the one sleeping in his own room for the next week. John ignored the small part of his mind that pointed out that it left him alone either way, and instead shuffled back to his earlier seat. If there was no reason to rush back to his room, then he might as well sit out here for a little while longer. Maybe watching the ocean in the moonlight would help him the way Elizabeth said it always helped her.

)(o)(

Elizabeth palmed open the door to the deck near her quarters, intending to relax in the night air for a few moments before going to bed. Somehow, just a few moments staring at the dark waves relaxed her in a way that few other things did, and often gave her courage to face whatever the Pegasus Galaxy threw at her next.

Unfortunately, tonight her favorite retreat was already occupied by someone else. They were mostly hidden in the shadows of the walls - it wasn't a large deck, really - but enough moonlight bounced off the wild mess of hair for her to identify the intruder.

"John?" she asked cautiously. "Would you mind some company?"

She was greeted by silence - not even a sigh - and Elizabeth felt her shoulders droop. She wasn't sure why John was upset with her, and she had hoped to discus it with him in the morning, but this clearly wasn't the time. Disappointed and saddened by the heavy silence that was filling her refuge, Elizabeth quickly retreated. Perhaps tonight she would be able to relax just by looking out her window.

)(o)(

John woke up in a lousy mood. The first thing he did was try to speak, but he still couldn't make a sound. On top of that, Elizabeth was mad at him, Rodney was pissed at him, and Carson was acting hurt that John had refused to talk to him during his last check in. Which meant that basically this day was shaping up to be really, really sucky.

He actually lay in his bed for almost twenty minutes, debating whether or not it was even worth it to get up. Eventually, he decided that, if nothing else, there was always paperwork, and until Carson completed his analysis of the alien goo, he was stuck in the city. Perhaps this was a good time to get caught up on all those forms and things that he had to deal with as the chief military officer.

And, he really ought to give his latest mission report to Elizabeth, after he added a few comments.

Two hours and fifty pages later, John tossed his report onto Elizabeth's desk, careful not to disturb her work too much.

"Thank you, John; I'll look at it later," Elizabeth said in a weary voice. She moved his folder to the side, not seeming to notice that it was thicker than usual, which John had done on purpose in the hopes that it would entice her to read it sooner.

At her blatant dismissal, John felt his shoulders slump and he quickly strode from the office. There had to be _some_ way to get through to her and Carson.

)(o)(

Elizabeth was in the middle of working on food requisitions when a folder plopped down in front of her with complete disregard for her work. She bit back a sigh and just said, "Thank you, John; I'll look at it later." She lifted the folder to move it to a better place and was surprised to notice how thick it was. Probably just full of ranting about Rodney's recent comments. She might as well wait until she got Rodney's report too, so she could read them together. It might cause less of a headache that way.

Placing the folder on her side table, Elizabeth looked back up, intending to ask John if Carson had come up with anything yet, but to her surprise the Colonel was gone. He was probably annoyed that she hadn't had the time to look at his report right away, and was now going to the workout room in a huff.

It was actually a good idea, now that she thought about it. John had been in a bit of a huff since returning from this last mission, and perhaps a hard workout would do him good.

)(o)(

John had spent seven hours catching up on paperwork, taken a jog around the entire city, and learned the opening to _Highwayman_ on his guitar. And still his voice wasn't back, his friends weren't speaking to him, and his mood hadn't improved.

At dinner he had sat at their team's usual table, but the others hadn't joined him. He wasn't sure if that was just because they weren't interested in eating at the same time as him, or if they were deliberately avoiding him because of his supposed bad mood.

A mood that was getting worse every time he saw someone give him a cautious look or heard them clear their throat pointedly. It if wasn't for the fact that he and Carson were mutually upset with each other, he would have asked the man for a bag of cough drops to pass out.

In fact, he was seriously considering sneaking into the infirmary and stealing the cough drops himself, just to see the expression on everyone's face when he responded to their indignant little coughing.

With a sigh of annoyance, John shoved his tray away, across the table towards Ronon's chair. He just couldn't eat in this atmosphere. He and Rodney were fighting, no one had noticed that he couldn't talk, and this surge of irritation from people he barely knew was starting to get on his nerves. The food in his stomach felt like it was weighing him down, and he was beginning to get a headache from all of the tension.

And, of course, he couldn't go get a Tylenol from the infirmary because Carson was still upset with him. Brilliant. With a huff of annoyance, John got to his feet, ignoring his discarded tray, and left the room. Maybe another run around the west pier would help ease his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks had passed. _Two weeks!_ Elizabeth had grounded his team until he explained his recent bad mood and proved he was emotionally capable of going on another offworld mission. And yet, neither she, Carson, _Rodney_, or anyone else on the whole god-dammed base had even noticed that he COULDN'T TALK.

None of them seemed to realize that he hadn't said a word since their last mission! Or if they had realized, they didn't seem to care. Although he had received more than one comment about how nice it was to see that he had learned to think before he spoke. The third time he heard it, he wanted to reply that they shouldn't confuse him with Rodney, but as usual of late, he kept silent.

Teyla was using the down time to go visit her people, Ronon was doing something that involved staying away from John, and Carson had decided that working on his Iratus research was somehow more important than determining the nature of the chemical in the water from M72-8R3.

Additionally, Rodney had locked himself in his lab and wasn't speaking to John, and he had also offended Elizabeth in some way, though he had no idea how. Even Chuck the technician was giving him the cold shoulder whenever John wandered into the control room. And yet, John wasn’t entirely sure how he had offended all these various people. It wasn't like he had _said_ anything stupid recently.

In fact, he had surpassed being annoyed with all of them and was moving right along to seriously furious. It was one thing to let him turn into a bug, but it was completely another to get mad at him because _Rodney_ took his voice away. John stomped down the corridor towards his room, making a mental list of things to say to Rodney once he got his voice back.

"Sir?"

John heard Lorne's cautious voice come from behind him and he turned around, not bothering to hide his anger. Lorne looked surprisingly nervous and so John raised one eyebrow at him in an indication to continue.

"Well I was wondering if you'd had a chance to review that training schedule for the new marines that I sent you."

John nodded. He was getting very good at non-verbal communication these days.

"And what did you think of it?" Lorne prompted.

John gave him a thumbs up and then turned around to go.

"Uh, Sir?"

John turned back to his second-in-command.

"Are you upset about something I've done?" the major asked quietly.

John shook his head, genuinely surprised. It wasn't that he'd been avoiding Lorne the past few days; more like people in general, and he had intended to reply to the major's email later today.

"Then why are you refusing to talk to me?"

John couldn't help but sigh in relief. Finally, _finally_, someone asked the question he had been waiting for for thirteen days. Shrugging hopelessly, he mouthed, 'I'm not.'

Lorne looked at him for a long moment, his confusion evident, before he finally said, "Excuse me, Colonel?"

John reached over and took the notepad from the major's arms, snagging his pen as well. Quickly he wrote down, _'It's not you. I lost my voice on M72-8R3'_, before handing it back.

Lorne read it quickly, his eyes widening. "You lo- why didn't you say something?"

John raised one eyebrow and smirked at the younger man.

Lorne blushed. "I mean, why didn't you tell someone. Or write someone?" He shook the papers in his hand.

John took the pad back and wrote, _'I tried. Honestly, I thought someone would have noticed before now.'_ He debated with himself for a second before adding, _'They were all so focused on not talking to me, I figured I'd return the favor.'_ John tried to smirk casually as he handed back the notepad, but he was fairly certain that he failed.

Lorne read the note quickly and then paused for a moment. John tried to read the expression on his second-in-command's face, but it was impossible. After a moment, Lorne nodded. "Excuse me, Sir. I'll talk to you about that training schedule later." Without waiting for a response, Lorne spun on his heel and strode off.

John watched him go until he rounded the corner, and then he turned back in the direction of his own room. It seemed like a good time to catch up on some _War and Peace._

)(o)(

Elizabeth was shocked when the normally mild Major Lorne burst into her office with a scowl on his face, interrupting her meeting with Carson. "Major Lorne? What can I do for you?"

"I'm sorry for interrupting, Ma'am, Dr. Beckett, but I need to talk to you about Colonel Sheppard."

"I'll just go, then," Carson said, gathering up his papers.

"No, no please stay," Lorne held up one hand. "My first question is actually for you."

"Alright, son." Carson sat back in his chair again and looked at the pilot cautiously.

"I realize that there are confidentiality issues involved, but I need to ask, for the good of the base, if there was anything wrong with Colonel Sheppard on his last post-mission checkup." Lorne said, his voice taking on an official tone. 

"Why, do you think the Colonel has been compromised?" Elizabeth asked.

Lorne ignored her, focused on Dr. Beckett, who seemed confused. "Well, other than the fact that he was a mite grumpy, I did nae note anything wrong with the Colonel," he said. "Why?"

Lorne's lip curled slightly. "Well I just thought it was odd that no one seemed to care that the Colonel hasn't spoken in two weeks, and I was just wondering if that was prompted by malice or ignorance. Now that I realize that it’s the latter, I have to wonder about our medical procedures and our chain of command structure."

Elizabeth was taken aback at the young man's tone, but the thought was overwhelmed by the words sinking into her brain. John hadn't spoken in two weeks? That was impossible. "That's impossible." Elizabeth said. "If Colonel Sheppard did lose his voice, one of us would have noticed. He's just upset about what happened on his last mission."

"I'll give you that he's upset, and I would be too." Lorne replied.

He tossed his notepad down onto Elizabeth's desk, and her eyes were drawn to the first line on it. There, in John's unmistakable handwriting, were the words, _'It's not you. I lost my voice on M72-8R3'._

She was still trying to absorb that sentence when she heard Carson exhale heavily and whisper, "Oh my god." Looking down again, she saw that John had written more: _'I tried. Honestly, I thought someone would have noticed before now. They were all so focused on not talking to me, I figured I'd return the favor.'_

It took her a moment to realize that Lorne was talking again, and his words barely penetrated the fog around her brain. "-snowstorm on M7G-677. I've only been back for three days and only saw the Colonel today, and yet I still figured it out. How you all could have missed this for two weeks is beyond me. I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps _you_ are the security breech."

Elizabeth heard the young Major leave, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from John's words. _'Honestly, I thought someone would have noticed before now.'_ How could they have missed this?

"This has tae be a joke," Carson decided. "There was nothing odd on John's scans, and all of his tests came back clean. Surely he would have mentioned it in his report."

His report. Suddenly Elizabeth remembered the morning when John had brought her his mission report. She remembered noticing that it was thicker than usual, and she remembered setting it aside without reading it. Once the other reports came in, she hadn't even read them, believing the debriefing to have covered it all.

Feeling like her limbs were made of lead, Elizabeth rose and opened the drawer of her filing cabinet. She found John's report and pulled it out, placing it on her desk where Carson could see it clearly as well.

The first few pages were the standard report summary, though one line had been highlighted. _'While walking back to the Stargate, I realized that the water had somehow affected my vocal chords, rendering them useless. However, I was unable to vocalize this thought to the rest of my team.'_

Elizabeth reached the last official page and flipped it over, dreading what she would see. There, neatly printed over and over on what appeared to be at least fifty pages, were the words, _'I can't talk. My voice is gone. I can't speak.'_

"Oh my god."

Elizabeth wasn't sure if the whisper came from her lips or Carson's, but she did feel a knot growing in the pit of her stomach.

)(o)(

A long moment later, Elizabeth felt composed enough to face Carson. "Did you ever identify the foreign substance in the water that drenched Colonel Sheppard on M72-8R3?"

To her surprise, Carson blushed and ducked his head. "Actually, I have nae finished testing it yet."

"Really?" Elizabeth tried to keep her tone neutral; she suspected that Carson was probably beating himself up now and she didn't intend to make him feel any worse. She had more than enough to berate herself about.

"Well, tae tell the truth, I was in a wee bit of a snit with the Colonel meself, and I may have put other projects ahead o' M72-8R3."

"I see. How long should it take now, do you think?"

"Well now that we know the exact effect of the water, it should make it a bit easier tae identify the way it achieved the reaction. With luck, it should take nae more than a week tae figure out how to reverse the effects. If Rodney has translated the rest of the ruins, it should help."

"Good, I'll check on Rodney right now." Elizabeth desperately wanted to restore John's voice as soon as possible, and she suspected that Carson felt the same way.

"I'll go back tae the infirmary." Carson gathered his papers and quickly left Elizabeth's office.

Scooping up Major Lorne's pad, Elizabeth left too, tapping on her earpiece as she went. "Rodney?"

A second later the scientist's irritated voice replied, "Yes, Elizabeth?"

"I need to speak with you about some of your work. Where are you now?" Elizabeth headed towards the nearest transporter.

"I'm in my lab, as usual. Where else would I be?"

Elizabeth tapped the node representing the transporter nearest to the physics labs before responding. "You could have been in your rooms, in the mess hall, in the infirmary, in any of the other labs berating your scientists, exploring some of the rooms we recently uncovered on the East Pier; do I need to go on?"

"No, thank you!" Rodney replied at the same time that Zelenka said,

"Please do."

"Was she talking to you?" Rodney snapped.

Elizabeth reached the door to Rodney's lab and smiled to see the two physicists working side by side on their laptops. "Actually, I'm glad you're both here," she said, turning off her earpiece. "Have you two finished the translation of the ruins on M72-8R3?"

Rodney frowned, but Zelenka looked surprised. "I thought we put M72-8R3 on hold indefinitely? Since information about their great powers was wrong?"

Rodney snorted. "Yes, I thought that analyzing the rest of the information relating to the sun in this system would be a better use of time. You know, make sure that there aren't any other planet-wide catastrophes just waiting to kill us all that we need to know about."

"Yes, after hurricanes two years ago, and solar disturbances last month, it seemed good idea to see what else we might expect. Y-you know, to be prepared before hand." Zelenka added.

"As good an idea as that is," Elizabeth nodded, "I'd like you to pass it on to someone else. We need to get the rest of the information from M72-8R3 translated as soon as possible."

"Why, is Colonel Sheppard still pouting about dropping water all over himself?" Rodney sneered.

Elizabeth had to suppress a small flare of anger. After all, up until a few minutes ago she had felt the same way. "Actually, the Colonel hasn’t said a word about it. And that's the problem." She held up Lorne's pad so that both scientists could read it clearly.

"Ach můj bože. How did we not realize?" Zelenka whispered.

)(o)(

Rodney didn't answer; he was too busy revisiting every interaction he had had with John in the past weeks. This had to be a mistake of some kind. There was no way that John had not spoken to anyone in two weeks, especially not to Rodney.

Rodney had a flashback to their first night after the mission, when he had called out to John over their headsets. And, very uncharacteristically, John hadn't replied.

_Because he couldn't._ Rodney now realized.

How much had his words that night, and in the following days, hurt John? How many times had his lover wanted to respond and found himself unable? If Rodney hadn't been busy working himself into a furious snit at John, he might have realized that there was something seriously wrong with the man that he claimed to love.

"Carson thinks that the analysis of the water could take about a week, provided you can give him a proper translation of the ruins on M72-8R3." Elizabeth said in her usual no-nonsense tone.

As much as he cared for John, Rodney couldn't let those feelings show in front of others, even Elizabeth. "Yes, yes, we'll get right on it." He waved his hand dismissively before pushing away from his desk. Letting his chair roll over to the nearest side table, Rodney grabbed the data pad he had used to collect images of the writings on the ruins.

Pushing himself back to his laptop, Rodney looked up and noticed that Elizabeth was still standing in his doorway, giving him an odd look. He did not want to talk to her about John right now - couldn't think about how much he had hurt the other man - so instead he gave her his best 'disinterested' look. "Was there something else that you needed, Elizabeth?" he asked, turning on the data pad.

"No, I don’t need anything else, Rodney." Elizabeth said a little coldly. "Please contact me as soon as you have anything. Radek." Nodding to the Czech scientist, Elizabeth turned and flounced out of the room.

Ignoring the look that Rodney was sure Zelenka was gracing him with, Rodney shoved the printouts of recent solar activity across the table. "Get what's-her-name… the little Asian one…" he snapped his fingers together irritably.

"Miko?"

"Yes! Get her and that new guy the Daedalus brought with them and have those two get started on the weather thing." Rodney closed the laptop he had been using and slid it across the table as well.

"And while I am doing, you will be doing what?" Zelenka sounded annoyed.

"Seeing if our good voodoo doctor kept any samples." Rodney snapped before leaving his lab.

He knew that he could have radioed Carson, but Rodney needed the walk; he need the time alone to think about what had happened between him and John without worrying about hiding his emotions from someone who knew him as well as Zelenka did. Rodney could clearly remember the day on M72-8R3, and the moment when John had been drenched.

_He had been trying to work, translating as much of the ruins as he could while recording everything into one of the handheld data pads, while John wandered around the room and made stupid comments. It wasn't that he was really that pissed off at John, but simply the day in general._

_Rodney had been up late working the night before, trying to distract himself from the fact that he would not feel John's strong arms wrapped around him. At last he fell into bed, close to sunrise. When he woke up, he was almost late to the pre-mission debriefing and he had been rushed to get everything together on time._

_Once they got to the planet, Rodney's mood soured even more when he discovered that the ruins were far more weathered than they had originally believed, making the translation twice as hard. And all the glyphs that he did manage to translate seemed to be simply the ramblings of a primitive pre-industrial society._

_Rodney was already close to the boiling point when John started in on the teasing, and it didn't take him long to pass the point of exploding, like a Zed-PM that had hit critical mass. Rodney shouted, taking out all of his frustrations of the day on John, "God! Sometimes I wish you'd just SHUT UP!" Rodney lashed out and hit the wall he was translating with his fist._

_Pain radiated out from the place he hit and Rodney shook his hand gently. He was about to blame that on John as well, unfairly or not, when the walls started to rumble. "What? What?" Rodney looked around frantically, his rage immediately morphing into panic._

_Before Rodney could blink, John was holding his gun, his eyes darting around the room. The walls creaked again and Rodney put his arms over his head. He was about to suggest running when a hole opened in the ceiling and water cascaded over John. Rodney was still trembling a little in fear, but the sight of John looking like a drenched puppy made him laugh. Ronon and Teyla rushed into the room, weapons out, but they both quickly lowered them and also began to laugh._

_John shook his head a few times, making water fly in every direction as his hair sprang back into place. John opened his mouth a few times, but clearly could not think of something sarcastic to say, as he stayed silent._

_"Oh, come on Sheppard," Rodney gasped out between laughter, "stop gaping like an idiot and let's go. You know Carson's going to want to hear about this."_

That was the moment, Rodney realized, that John stopped speaking. And Rodney, self-involved as he was, had failed to notice that anything was wrong. In fact, as Rodney replayed the event in his mind, he realized that there was just the slightest chance that this entire thing was his fault.

_"God! Sometimes I wish you'd just SHUT UP!"_

Rodney must have hit some secret trigger when he punched the wall, something that set off the shower of water. And his words - his wish - had taken away John's voice. In one stupid moment he had hurt John, and then… he didn't even want to think about the past two weeks. _"God! Sometimes I wish you'd just SHUT UP!"_

Rodney desperately hoped that he and Carson could quickly find a way to fix John's voice. And then, he would have a lot of groveling to do.

)(o)(

John was just starting to get bored with _War and Peace_ when his door chimed, alerting him that someone was standing outside. Unable to verbally grant them entrance, John put his book down and strode towards the door. Palming the door open, he was confronted with the sight of a very sorrowful looking Dr Weir.

_Well, that didn't take Lorne very long at all,_ John thought to himself.

"John, we need to talk," Elizabeth began.

John raised one eyebrow and backed into his room, inviting her to come in. Elizabeth followed him into the room, and took her time looking around. She didn't seem to be in much of a hurry to discus the reason she had come, but John expected that.

It had always been that way with Elizabeth; she would rush into a situation, and then she would take time to compose herself and get her words in order. And for once, John wouldn't be able to say something half snarky and half comforting and snap her out of it.

John was tempted to go sit on his bed and continue _War and Peace_, but instead he spun his desk chair around and sat in it, tipping it back onto two legs. He was tempted to tip it back onto one leg and balance it there, (a feat for which he had set a new four minute record this past week) but in deference to Elizabeth, he refrained. He had also made it through an entire chapter of War and Peace, beaten his best Solitaire score, and learned a few phrases in American Sign Language.

"Well," Elizabeth turned away from the window to face John, "Carson, Rodney, and Radek are doing their best…"

John snorted and then signed quickly.

Elizabeth smiled sadly. "Yes, I know, but at least I didn't ask you how you were."

John allowed the chair to thunk to the floor. Elizabeth knew ASL? His shock must have showed on his face, because Elizabeth's smile widened. "I know a few phrases. I brokered a tribal peace treaty in Africa and one of the chiefs was deaf."

John turned around and grabbed a datapad that Rodney had left there two weeks ago. Opening the chalkboard function he wrote, "The phrase 'Your bedside manner sucks' came up in a peace treaty?"

Elizabeth chuckled. "No. I learned 'your,' 'side' and 'bad manners.' I extrapolated the rest of your sentence."

John didn't laugh, but he did nod and put the pad down. As amusing as it was that she had understood him, he wasn't quite ready to forgive Elizabeth yet.

Elizabeth seemed to sense his reluctance, as her smile quickly faded. "Look, John, I am so sorry. I don't understand why none of us noticed, especially after two weeks…"

To be fair, John had mostly been avoiding people for the second week, after Dr Biro had caught him trying to steal some cough drops and given him a very odd look. However, John wasn't interested in being fair at the moment, so he just stared at Elizabeth.

"Yes, well, why didn't you write something and give it to us, the way you explained to Major Lorne?"

John gave her an incredulous look.

"Oh, I mean, I know about your report, and I apologize for not reading it before," Elizabeth continued, "but at the time I really thought that everything had been covered. I didn't… you didn't give an indication… I just assumed that you were upset with me." Elizabeth ducked her head on the last line, her voice softening.

John was sill nursing a slow-burning anger at pretty much the entire base, but he could never resist it when Elizabeth looked so sad. With a heavy sigh, he picked up Rodney's pad again and wrote. "It's okay."

Elizabeth read it and then shook her head. "No, it's not. Lorne accused Carson and me of being security breaches, and I have to wonder if he wasn't right. It shouldn't have been possible for _anyone_, let alone the chief military officer, to have an undiscovered medical problem for so long, especially when you gave us so many indicators."

John shrugged and wrote, "I could have tossed this on your desk too, or written it on the cover…"

"Yes, but you shouldn't have had to," Elizabeth replied. "When you and your team were returning to Atlantis, someone should have noticed. When I greeted you all at the gate, someone should have noticed. When Carson gave you the post-mission physical, especially since we knew you had come into contact with an alien substance, someone should have noticed. At the briefing… do I really need to go on?"

"Well, none of you were with me the entire time…" John wrote on the pad. It was suddenly easy to be magnanimous when Elizabeth was so upset with herself.

"No," Elizabeth shook her head, "That isn't an excuse. By the time you turned in your mission report, at least one person should have noticed that you were being unusually quiet and questioned you about it. As Major Lorne pointed out, he had only seen you for five minutes before he realized that something wasn't right and _asked_ you about it."

"Well, that's true," John wrote. Okay, maybe he wasn't _that_ magnanimous.

)(o)(

"Rodney, there ye – ah! Colonel Sheppard, you're here as well! Good!" Carson burst into the physicist's lab a few days later.

"What is it?" Rodney snapped, looking up from his laptop.

Carson fumbled with his pile of folders and John suppressed a smirk. Everyone seemed to be fumbling around him these days, and his anger had slowly ebbed away under the press of his amusement. "Here! The unidentified minerals in the water!"

"You identified them?" Rodney demanded.

Carson shoved some images at him. "They're microscopic crystals!" he declared.

_"Crystals?"_ John wrote on his datapad. "Like the wish granting legends?"

"Aye, lad," Carson nodded. "It looks like the legends were right."

"Let's not leap to the conclusion of magic just yet!" Rodney protested, still pouring over the pictures. "There is evidence of crystals, with proper sound waves applied to them, affecting vocal chords."

"You're blaming sound waves?" John wrote.

"No!" Rodney hurried to reply. "I'm just trying to stay logical here!"

John let that slide, as Rodney was walking on eggshells even more than the rest of the base, and while John wasn't quite willing to forgive him yet, he also wasn't going to force the inept scientist into a deeper hole. Instead, he turned back to Carson. "So what's that do for us?" he asked.

"Well, it means that the water probably isn't toxic," Carson began. "And it means that it's likely that returning to the planet and making… making another wish, for lack of a better word…"

"Could fix me," John offered.

"Aye, son."

John hesitated before asking, "And if not?"

"Then we try Rodney's sound waves," Carson teased.

)(o)(

John tensed as he waited for the deluge. As near as they could tell, he was standing where he had been before, and Rodney believed that he had located the trigger he had inadvertently struck before.

"I wish you'd get your voice back," Rodney declared in a too loud voice. Then he poked the wall a little more judiciously than he had the last time. There was another loud creaking, and, once again, John was drenched from above.

He shivered, but the water seemed slightly warmer than last time. Though maybe that was just because he was expecting it this time. After a moment of furious blinking, he heard Rodney say, "well?"

John opened his mouth to snap back, but nothing came out again. Frustrated, he shot a glare at his partner, but Carson immediately forestalled his rage. "Wait a minute, Colonel. Ye've not used those chords for a few weeks now. Try a few more times and see if they're just a wee bit rusty."

John hoped his doubt didn't show on his face, but he dutifully began to speak. He was midway through a decent rant when suddenly a squeaky "-ing to kill you" emerged from his throat.

Immediately Carson, Ronon, and Teyla began to cheer. Rodney just heaved a giant sigh of relief as Lorne poked his head into the hut. "I take it it worked, then?" he asked cheerily.

"Yup!" John croaked.

"Good, then let's get back home, Sir," he grinned.

Carson finally seemed to remember the pile of blankets he was holding and he quickly draped them around John's shoulders. "Well done, son!" he declared. "Now we'll get ye back home fer a full check up!"

"A full one?" John croaked, unable to resist the dig.

"A _full_ one," Carson confirmed, with only a hint of a blush.

Teyla gave John a quick hug before leaving the ruins, and Ronon offered him a relieved clap on the back, then quickly followed the Athosian. John looked at Rodney, who wasn't joining in the celebrations, and quickly glanced at Carson. Nodding, the doctor left, leaving them alone.

"Hey," John creaked, nudging Rondey's arm. "You didn't lose your voice this time?"

"What? No!" Rodney immediately replied.

Relieved, John contemplated his lover. He was still upset about the events of the last three weeks, but now that he was cured, he really just wanted to curl up with Rodney and forget it had ever happened. He just wanted to go back to his life four weeks ago, when everything was fine and no one fumbled around him.

Sure, sometimes he lost his voice and no one noticed. And sometimes he got turned into a bug. And sometimes Rodney accidentally activated Ancient shields until he almost died. That's what happened on Atlantis.

So, making up his mind, he gave Rodney a quick, blanket-wrapped hug. "I'll see you at ten, Rodney," he whispered, then placed a small kiss on the other man's cheek.

Rearranging his cocoon of blankets, John ducked out the doorway to join the rest of the team. When Rodney didn't follow a few seconds later, he gave his best approximate of his usual bellow. "MCKAY!"

Rodney rushed out the door, a large smile on his face. "I'm coming!"


End file.
